A dog with broken bones that was found dumped in a Vancouver park garbage bin is on the road to recovery.
On April 2, a couple was walking in Pacific Spirit Park when they made the shocking discovery.
Terry Sparrow was throwing out his piece of gum when he found the miniature poodle and called his fiancée Krista Brisk over to help. The couple rescued the dog and rushed him home to give him a bath and food.
“It’s heartbreaking and I’m glad that we were there at the right time,” said Sparrow. “I'm still in shock. Who would throw a beautiful dog like that in the trash can of all places?"
They’ve since named him Oscar, from Sesame Street, and he’s been in the care of Laurie Schildt who volunteers at an animal rescue society.
"I'm falling more in love with him each day. He's just so resilient for everything he's gone through,” she said.
Schildt is raising money for his veterinary bills. He was brought to Canada West Veterinary Specialists and Critical Care Hospital in Vancouver.
More than $7,000 has been raised so far; however, the hospital said his surgeries will likely cost three times that. A registered charity that was started by a donation to Canada West called the Jessie & Bandit Fund and the hospital are covering the remainder of the costs. The hospital estimates the final bill to be more than $20,000.
“The public has been absolutely amazing. The donations are pouring in for his recovery,” said Schildt. “He’s definitely stolen the hearts of a lot of people around the city."
Doctors at the animal hospital confirmed Oscar has traumatic injuries, including a dislocated hip, multiple fractures and neurological damage.
“Since it was so unknown what had happened to him, and we could determine that his breathing and everything was OK, we took him to surgery yesterday,” said specialist veterinary surgeon Dr. Michael King Wednesday.
Oscar needed surgery on his hip and elbow.
“He would have been quite uncomfortable,” said King.
While it’s still unclear what happened to Oscar, he did suffer a blunt force trauma. There are signs that he might have been hit by a vehicle but it could have been another type of impact.
“There was quite a big blow [to his ribs], so probably a lot of bruising and discomfort, even with breathing,” said King.
Oscar's elbow was broken into multiple fragments. King operated and put in a small plate with six little holes to hold everything together.
“The screws are actually 1.6 millimetres in diameter because he’s such a little guy.”
The elbow injury is believed to have happened recently, in the past week. His hip injury appears to have been a number of months old or even a couple of years old.
"The hip itself had sort of formed a new hip joint a little bit higher up and it was evidence of some kind of previous fracture, most likely not helping him in this situation,” explained King.
Oscar also had multiple rib fractures which King said don’t need to be treated but will take some time to heal.
“We don't know exactly what his age is, but given that he's an older dog, we believe that it is going to take slightly longer for him to heal than if he was a puppy,” he said.
His recovery will likely take about eight weeks of rest and quiet time. He won’t be running freely with any friends until three months after the April 8 surgery.
“Hopefully, he’ll be making a full recovery,” said King.
Both Schildt and King are happy people found Oscar and quickly brought him in.
“Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made it,” said King. “He’s a really lucky little guy.”
Oscar will stay in the hospital until Friday and then will head home with Schildt to recover.
Police investigation
As of April 9, the investigation is still ongoing and police confirm a few tips have been received from the public.
University RCMP investigators canvassed the area for video from April 2.
People who saw what happened or has dash camera footage from the area around Camosun Bog is asked to call police at 604-224-1322.
Anyone who kills, maims, wounds or injuries a dog can be charged under the Criminal Code of Canada.
Oscar did have a microchip in him, but it was not registered and there was no name attached to it.
“We searched about 25 sites, if not more, looking for a connection but we didn’t find one,” said Schildt.
She hopes that if someone knows how he ended up in the garbage they do the right thing and come forward to police.
"It's really unacceptable for what he's had to go through,” she said.
